


Pool Shenanigans (and Sabotage)

by keithpoenewt



Series: High School Senior Year AU [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Angst, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Bullying, Corex AU, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Eventual Relationships, F/M, Female Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Gay Keith (Voltron), High School AU, Hunk & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, Hunk (Voltron) is so Pure, Keith (Voltron) Angst, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith and Shiro are Adoptive Siblings, M/M, POV Keith (Voltron), Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Pre-Relationship, Sassy Pidge | Katie Holt, Senior year, Slow Burn, friendship goals tbh, give him a medal you cowards, he's trying his best, it's a three day camp really, oops he exposed himself, or retreat, senior year retreat, she's my queen, someone plz help this poor boy, tho it isn't between keith and lance so you're welcome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-08-22
Packaged: 2018-12-18 19:00:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11880786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keithpoenewt/pseuds/keithpoenewt
Summary: After the Corex Games, Keith gets his ankle patched up by Lotor (who is the assistant athletic trainer at their school). He shouldn't be moving around on it, but sometimes that can't be helped.Especially if bullies are involved.Luckily Keith has a knight in shining armor - or in this case, a blue swimsuit.





	Pool Shenanigans (and Sabotage)

**Author's Note:**

> College has started and can I just say I want to die? Lol but seriously. At least I don't have any 8am classes :)  
> I made my college's marching band! Don't know if I should specify which college but if any of you know what ND stands for, then you know lol. I play the clarinet FYI
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

**Corex Day 2, Afternoon (after lunch):**

After winning the Corex Games, Keith's group got to write their names on a frisbee painted gold to resemble an actual gold medal that would be hung up in the school for everyone to see. Keith should be upset about this lackluster prize because he ended up with essentially nothing gained and a busted ankle, but he's not because Damien and his dick squad got last place, and Keith's just happy he could rub his first-place title in their faces.

The moment Shiro saw Lance helping Keith walk, then nearly exploded when he discovered Keith injured himself when he jumped out of the tree (like those Pepsi cans Pidge complained about cleaning up last night). He immediately ordered Lance and Pidge to help bring Keith over to his cabin so he could look at the injury, but Lotor stepped in, sensing things would probably go south if that happened and offered to look instead since he's also one of the school’s athletic trainers. Shiro didn't want to at first, but, with some reassurance from Matt, he finally agreed to it.

Anyway, Lance helps Keith sit down on a bench so Lotor can look at the injury. He gently lifts Keith's foot in his hands and presses on the inner portion of Keith's ankle. “Does this hurt?” he asks.

“Not really,” Keith replies. “I think it's - ah!” He hisses in pain as Lotor presses on the outer portion of his ankle.

“Thought so,” Lotor says, gently setting Keith's foot down. “The sprain is minor so it will heal quickly as long as you keep your weight off it for another day so the swelling goes down a bit more.” He turns to Allura. “He will need some ice and a splint of sorts.”

Allura nods. “Right!” She turns to Matt. “You go with Pidge and look for the medical supplies in the closet near the restrooms in the main cabin while I get a bag of ice for Keith.”

Pidge, Matt, and Allura all rush off towards the main cabin to get Keith the supplies he needs. Shiro ruffles Keith's hair. “You gonna make it?”

Keith nods. “Yeah, dude. I've been hit with pitches and tackled roughly more times than I can count. What's a little sprain gonna do?”

“It will get worse with that attitude, Kogane,” Lotor warns. “I’m being serious here. If you want to be well enough for football tryouts then you need to take it easy for the next few days.”

Lance glares at Keith. “Keith, I swear to god if you can’t play this year the football team is toast.”

Keith nods. “I will. I can’t risk not playing this year, but I think that’s an exaggeration, Lance.”

Lotor shrugs. “I’ve seen the other receivers, Keith. They don’t have your speed.” He stands up as Allura, Matt, and Pidge come back with the crutches, ice bag, and splint. Keith takes the ice bag from “Anyway, just ice it for a bit then you can put the splint on and move around.”

“Thanks, Mr. Isola,” Keith says with a smile. “Are you gonna miss having me in class this year?”

Lotor laughs heartily. “You know what? I actually will, but you’re Ezor’s problem now. She’s gonna love having you.”

Lance gasps. “Oh my god! She’s the best! She’s my absolute favorite social studies teacher…okay her and Mrs. Rozinov.”

“What?! She terrifies me!” Keith exclaims.

“Yes…Zethrid is a bit terrifying, but she’s a softie inside,” Lotor replies with a smile. “I think they’ll be here tomorrow so you’ll get to see them!”

Keith visibly deflates while Lance smiles happily. “YES! Oh my god, I might cry.”

Lotor chuckles and pats Lance’s head. “You’re a good kid, McClain…don’t ever change. I’ll see you two when the school year starts.”

Keith and Lance wave goodbye to Lotor as he walks away. Once he’s gone, Keith looks back at his ankle and sighs. “The rest of this retreat is gonna suck.”

Lance places his hand on Keith’s and smiles at him. “Nah, dude! I’ll make sure you aren’t lonesome.”

Keith’s chest tightens when he looks at Lance’s hand on his. He wants this so badly. He wants to take Lance’s hand in his own, pull him close, and kiss him. Keith wants to express all the love he has in his heart for Lance. He wants to, but he can’t…he can’t put himself out like that. Especially not when the risk of being turned down is too high.

He couldn’t live with himself if Lance turned him down.

Keith pulls his hand away as if Lance’s hand burned him. “You don’t have to do that. I’m probably just going to take a nap in the cabin,” he says as he removes the bag of ice and puts the splint on it.

Lance sighs and stands up. “Okay, Keith…whatever makes you happy.” He pats Keith’s shoulder before walking away towards their cabin.

Keith groans and buries his face in his hands. Why can’t he do anything right? Every time he’s alone with Lance, something always goes awry. Whether it's Lance running out on him or Keith chickening out of confessing to him.

His gaze snaps up when he hears Lance laugh loudly. Lance walks out of the cabin with Hunk, shirtless and in that blue swimsuit. Keith's cheeks heat up and he finds himself smiling slightly. Lance never failed to catch Keith's eye. He tosses his towel over his shoulder and bumps shoulders with Hunk, gesturing ahead to where Shay is walking over. She smiles widely at Hunk and Lance before pulling Hunk into a tight hug, kissing his cheek.

Keith turns to grab his crutches but is grabbed by the collar of his shirt and is yanked to his feet. “Didn't think I wouldn't find out, Kogane? Nothing gets by me,” Damien snarls in his face.

“What are you-” Keith starts.

“I know you're gay for McClain,” Damien interrupts. He chuckles at Keith's scared expression. “I knew it. The way you look at him is unnatural and disgusting.”

Keith struggles slightly, trying to get away, but Damien steps on Keith's bad foot slightly, causing Keith to whimper. Damien chuckles, “That's what I thought.”

He shoves Keith towards the entrance to the pool where the rest of Damien's dick squad are. Three of them grab Keith and bring him towards the deep end. “It's time to change some things about you, Kogane. We can't have someone like you on the football team.” He slugs Keith in the gut.

Keith winces and glares at Damien. “You're pathetic.”

Damien scoffs. “I'm the pathetic one!? You're the one who likes a guy! That's disgusting!” Damien punches Keith in the stomach again, knocking the air out of him.

Keith gasps for air and coughs loudly, trying to regain his breath. The world around him becomes fuzzy and he claws at his chest. He hears Damien chuckle and shove him backward, into the pool. Keith tries to take in a breath but gets a mouth full of pool water instead. His esophagus stings and his gag reflex kicks in. He tries to swim to the surface, but a shooting pain goes through his leg and he stops.

He closes his eyes, feeling the world drift away, but two arms snake their way around his waist and someone pulls him to the surface and out of the pool. They lay Keith on his back and Keith immediately starts to cough, attempting to get the water out of his lungs. Someone cups Keith’s face in their hands causing Keith to open his eyes. He still can’t hear, but can make out Lance’s worried facial expression.

His mouth moves, obviously speaking, but Keith can’t hear a thing. Keith’s eyes widen and he starts breathing heavily, only to start coughing again. Lance shouts something, probably Keith’s name. Finally, Keith sucks in some air and the sound returns to his ears.

“-eith? Keith, can you hear me!? Say something dammit!” Lance cries.

Keith sighs. “I’m okay…”

Lance nods and releases his face, looking up and glaring at someone. “I’m gonna kill you, Damien! What the hell were you thinking?! God, you’re such an asshole! Why’d you do it?!”

Damien scoffs. “Because he’s fricken gay for y-”

“WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE?!” a voice booms from the entrance of the pool.

Keith sits up slowly, resting on his elbow and turns to see an infuriated Lotor standing there with a smug Shay. “Damien, did you punch Keith several times then push him into the pool in an attempt to kill him?!”

“I mean that would’ve been a happy coincidence,” Damien replies, clearly not feeling remorseful.

Lotor points at him. “You’re coming with me, mister.”

“What?! You can’t tell me what to do! I-” Damien starts.

“NOW!” Lotor bellows, voice ringing throughout the entire camp. Damien jumps, startled and hurries over to Lotor. As he drags Damien out of the pool area, Keith feels damp arms make their way around Keith's neck, pulling him into a hug.

“I thought you were dead,” Lance whispers, holding Keith tighter. “You have no idea how scared I was.” He sniffles and Keith feels something wet drop onto his shoulder.

_Is he crying?_

Keith quickly wraps his arms around Lance and hugs him back. “I'm okay, Lance.” He buries his face in the crook of Lance’s neck. “I'm okay.”

Lance nods and pulls away from Keith. “Let's get you some dry clothes, okay?” He helps Keith to his feet then looks around for Keith’s crutches. “Where are your crutches?”

“I saw Damien’s friends take them somewhere,” Hunk replies, joining Keith and Lance. “I swear I was ready to kick their asses.”

Troy joins them after he finishes yelling at one of Damien’s other friends. “Yeah, I’ve never seen Garett that angry before in my life. Why did they push you in the pool anyway? You didn’t do anything to them.”

Keith’s gaze flickers over to Lance then back on Troy. “Uh, they were just mad I won the last activity for the Corex Games.”

Lance frowns slightly, obviously not buying Keith’s lie, but he doesn’t comment on it. “Who cares about the crutches right now. Lotor will rain down hell on Damien and find where they are.” He wraps his arm around Keith to help support him. “Ready to go?”

Keith nods and puts his arm around Lance’s shoulders, using him as a crutch. They make their way back to their cabin and Keith grabs hold of his bed to keep steady before reaching into his bag to find some dry clothes. “You don’t have to stay-”

“I know why they pushed you into the pool,” Lance interrupts.

Keith freezes, eyes widening in fear. He turns and looks at Lance. “Y-you do?”

Lance nods, suddenly looking more tired than usual.

“Look, I’m sorry if this makes you feel gross, but it’s how I feel, Lance. I can’t help how I feel for-” Keith starts.

“Why would I feel gross? Dude, I don’t care that you’re into dudes…hell, I had a crush on Hunk freshman year before I learned about his crush on Shay. I’m bi, remember?” Lance smiles slightly. “It’s not something you should be ashamed of. I’m sorry Damien bullied you about it…no one should have to deal with that. Remember the whole Nyma thing sophomore year? Her friends picked on me, but I didn’t let it affect who I am. Hell, I’m proud of who I am! Girls, guys, I think they’re all hot!”

Keith chuckles relieved Lance didn’t mention the crush. “Right, well, I don’t know how the rest of the team is going to feel about a gay guy on the football team.”

“Oh, we know,” a voice says from the doorway.

Keith turns and sees Hunk and Troy standing there. “What?!”

Troy chuckles. “Trust me, dude, you’re not subtle with the wandering eyes in the locker room.”

Hunk laughs loudly when Keith’s cheeks flush a bright red. “Don’t be embarrassed, Keith! Those of us who _do_ know, don’t really care. Damien and the rest of his dick friends were too dumb to figure it out. Speaking of which, how _did_ they find out?”

Keith rolls his eyes and takes off his shirt. “I think it was Kara.” He grabs his towel and starts drying off the upper half of his body. “When she was hitting on me earlier, I accidentally said ‘I don’t swing that way’ and then proceeded to tell Damien.”

Lance snickers. “It’s funny because you’re a baseball player and you…hit balls - well I guess you hit pucks too since you play - yeah okay I’ll shut up.”

Troy rolls his eyes. “Way to ruin the touching moment, McClain. No wonder you can’t keep a girl.”

Lance shrugs. “Guess I’ll just have to try guys then.” He winks at Keith.

Keith blushes, turning his head away then grabs his dry clothes and towel. “I’m leaving this conversation. Goodbye.” He hobbles over to the bathroom.

“Don’t take too long Keithy-kinz! We gotta figure out where your crutches went!” Lance exclaims as Keith shuts the bathroom door.

“Keithy-kinz? McClain…what the hell?” Troy asks from outside the door.

Lance giggles. “I like when he blushes.”

Keith covers his mouth in shock. _Did Lance just really say that? What does this mean?_

He walks over to the mirror and looks at himself. _Could Lance actually like Keith?_ Keith starts rethinking where he stands on Lance’s radar.

Maybe he should confess at some point today…he has a strange feeling he won’t be disappointed.

**Author's Note:**

> You should reread Small Group Gifting since I tweaked a couple things.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are appreciated!  
> Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)


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